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Irving Burgie

Irving Burgie’s classic Caribbean standards include such familiar hits as “Day-O,” “Jamaica Farewell,” “Island In the Sun,” “Angelina,” “Yellow Bird,” and he was co-writer of “Mary’s Boy Child.” “Day-O,” written in 1955, has seen many reincarnations through various samplings, including “We Are the World,” and most recently, in Lil’ Wayne’s “Six Foot Seven Foot” which was performed live on NBC’S Saturday Night Live.He has written 35 songs recorded by Harry Belafonte, including 8 of the 11 songs on Belafonte’s 1956 platinum album Calypso (also the first album in America to sell over 1 million copies). Burgie penned several hits for the Kingston Trio, including “The Seine”, “El Matador” and “Wish You Were Here”. To date, his songs have sold over 100 million records worldwide. In 1966, Burgie wrote the words to the national anthem of Barbados.

He is most well known for the song “Jamaica Farewell,” which has been recorded by Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Buffett, Carly Simon and others. His songs to date have sold over 100 million records throughout the world.

His song “Day-O” appears in the “We Are the World” video, and is featured in the hit film Beetlejuice. “Day-O” was also the wake-up call for the astronauts on the Space Shuttle Atlantis in outer space in 1997. His songs have been embraced by a long list of international artists including Mantovani, Miriam Makeba, and Julio Iglesias.

Irving Burgie’s formal studies were at the Juilliard School of Music, University of Arizona, and University of Southern California. He became a folksinger using the stage name “Lord Burgess” and performed the circuit between New York and Chicago, making his New York nightclub debut at the Village Vanguard in 1954.